''The News Quiz'' is a British topical

panel game A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show ''Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' S ...

, has seen several hosts, including

Barry Norman Barry Leslie Norman (21 August 1933 – 30 June 2017) was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, '' Film...'', from 1972 to 1998. Early life Born at St Thomas' Hospital, Lo ...

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series '' Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Hor ...

Simon Hoggart Simon David Hoggart (26 May 1946 – 5 January 2014) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He wrote on politics for ''The Guardian'', and on wine for ''The Spectator''. Until 2006, he presented '' The News Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. His journa ...

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She ha ...

, and

Miles Jupp Miles Hugh Barrett Jupp (born 8 September 1979) is an English actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children's television series ''Balamory''. He also played John Dugg ...

Andy Zaltzman Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and statistician. His comedy largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', ''The Dep ...

was announced as the permanent host after series 103. The show involves four panellists, often comedians or journalists, who answer questions about events of the previous week, often leading to humorous and satirical exchanges. The show was adapted for television in 1981 and has also inspired other shows, such as ''

Have I Got News for You ''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...

''.

History

''The News Quiz'' was created by John Lloyd, based on an idea by

. The series was first broadcast in 1977 with

in the chair. Subsequently it was chaired by

from 1979 to 1981,

from 1981 to 1986, Took again from 1986 to 1995, and then again by Hoggart from 1996 until March 2006. Hoggart was replaced by

in September 2006, who in turn was replaced by

in September 2015 until his departure at the end of 2019. Three different hosts took the chair in 2020;

Nish Kumar Nishant Kumar (born 1985) is a British stand-up comedian, television presenter and podcaster. He became known as the host of ''The Mash Report'' on BBC Two and U&Dave, Dave. He has also presented ''Newsjack'' on BBC Radio 4 Extra, ''Joel Domme ...

(series 101),

Angela Barnes Angela Barnes (born 9 November 1976) is an English stand-up comedian, mostly known for her appearances on ''Mock the Week''. Early life and education Barnes was born in Sidcup, London and brought up in Maidstone, Kent. She was educated at I ...

(series 102), and

(series 103). At the end of series 103, it was announced that Zaltzman would continue as permanent host. Originally, ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...

'' editor

Richard Ingrams Richard Reid Ingrams (born 19 August 1937) is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satirical magazine ''Private Eye'', and founding editor of ''The Oldie'' magazine. He left the latter job at the end of May 2014.B ...

and '' Punch'' editor

Alan Coren Alan Coren (27 June 1938 – 18 October 2007) was an English humorist, writer and satirist who was a regular panellist on the BBC radio quiz '' The News Quiz'' and a team captain on BBC television's '' Call My Bluff''. Coren was also a journalist ...

acted as team captains. It was adapted for television in 1981 under the title ''Scoop'', running for two series, and later inspired the television programme ''

''. In 2012, the BBC piloted an American version hosted by

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion and cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis Black's ...

. On 28 June 2013, the ''News Quiz'' paid tribute after the death of Radio 4 announcer

Rory Morrison Rory David Morrison (5 August 1964 – 11 June 2013) was a newsreader and continuity announcer for BBC Radio 4. Early life and education Morrison was born in London in 1964, the eldest of Anne and Bob Morrison's three children. He was bro ...

, who had read the news cuttings on the programme. During series 97, running from August to October 2018, Jupp was absent due to filming commitments overseas, so show regulars Simon Evans,

Susan Calman Susan Grace Calman (born 6 November 1974) is a Scottish comedian, television presenter and writer. She has written and starred in two series of her radio sitcom ''Sisters'', two series of stand-up show ''Susan Calman is Convicted'' and a serie ...

, Fred MacAulay,

Bridget Christie Bridget Louise Christie (born 17 August 1971) is an English stand-up comedian, actress and writer. She has written and performed comedy tours, in addition to radio and television work. She has been nominated for a BAFTA. Early life and educatio ...

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

and Lucy Porter took turns in the host's seat. Jupp himself chaired the first and last episodes of the series. In May 2019, it was announced that Jupp would leave the show at the end of the 99th series at the end of the month. Series 100 had several hosts:

Phil Wang Philip Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Vòng Hîn-kùi''; born 22 January 1990) is a British-Malaysian stand-up comedian and comedy writer who is a member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, and co-creator of their BBC Radio 4 ser ...

, Kiri Pritchard-McLean,

Zoe Lyons Zoe Ann Lyons (born 3 October 1971) is a British comedian and TV presenter. Early and personal life Lyons was born to an Irish father and an English mother in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Her family soon moved to Ireland, where she att ...

Patrick Kielty Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...

and

Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell (born 3 December 1974) is an Irish comedian and narrator, known for narrating the MTV reality series '' Ex on the Beach''. Career In 1992, Maxwell tried stand-up comedy for the first time at the Comedy Cellar at The Internation ...

. The hosts for 2020 were

, and

. Zaltzman was named as the permanent host at the conclusion of series 103.

Transmission

The programme is usually recorded in front of an audience on Thursday evenings at the

BBC Radio Theatre The BBC Radio Theatre (originally named The Concert Hall) is a theatre situated within the BBC's Broadcasting House complex. It is used for live broadcast and audio recordings. History Originally named The Concert Hall, the theatre was desig ...

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

. It is then edited and broadcast first on Friday evening at 18:30, then repeated at Saturday lunchtime. The final 28-minute show is significantly shorter than the original recording. In 2012, the BBC began making an extended version for

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

. Each week, four panellists appear on the show. They are usually either

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

s or

journalists A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and sometimes

politicians A politician is a person who participates in policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles or duties tha ...

. Journalists predominated in the early years. The ostensible purpose of the show is to test contestants' knowledge of the events of the previous week by asking questions which are usually oblique references to those events. However, this has given way to a general free-for-all where panellists chime in with their own humorous and satirical remarks once the question has been answered. The participants frequently wander off topic. The host ends the discussion of each question with a summary of the events it refers to, usually with a scripted comic punchline, before asking the next question. It is not uncommon for the show to get through only two rounds of the panel before the final section is reached. Before the host announces the largely symbolic scores, the panellists read out statements from newspapers and other media which they find amusing.

Personnel

Current host

In 2020,

guest hosted series 103 and at the end of the run was announced as the new permanent host.

Former hosts

(1977–1979) *

(1979–1981 & 1986–1995) *

(1981–1985 & 1996–2006) *

(2006–2015) *

(2015–2019, series 88–99) *

, Kiri Pritchard-McLean,

and

(September – October 2019, series 100) *

(2020, series 101) *

(2020, series 102)

Current regular panellists

* Simon Evans *

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, West London. He was educa ...

* Helen Lewis *

Ria Lina Ria Lina (born 1980) is a British comedian, actress and writer. She has appeared on ''Yesterday, Today & The Day Before'', ''Mock the Week'', '' Steph's Packed Lunch'', ''The Now Show'', ''The News Quiz'', and ''Have I Got News for You''. In 200 ...

* Fred MacAulay * Lucy Porter *

Hugo Rifkind Hugo James Rifkind (born 30 March 1977) is a British journalist. He has been a columnist for ''The Times'' since 2005. He also presents a mid-morning show on Times Radio, Mondays to Thursdays (from Sept 2024.) From July 2020 (the station's laun ...

Mark Steel Mark Steel (born 4 July 1960) is an English author, broadcaster, stand-up comedian and newspaper columnist. He has made many appearances on radio and television shows as a guest panellist, and has written regular columns in ''The Guardian'', '' ...

* Daliso Chaponda

Former regular panellists

Samira Ahmed Samira Ahmed (born 15 June 1968) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster at the BBC, where she presents '' Front Row'' on Radio 4 and '' Newswatch'' on the BBC News channel and BBC One during '' BBC Breakfast'', and regularly present ...

Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...

Jeremy Hardy Jeremy James Hardy (17 July 1961 – 1 February 2019) was an English comedian. Born and raised in Hampshire, Hardy studied at the University of Southampton and began his stand-up career in the 1980s, going on to win the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, ...

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, and television personality. He is the editor of the satirical magazine '' Private Eye'', a position he has held since 1986. He has appeared on many radio and television pr ...

(also a former host) *

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer and performer. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. St ...

(also a former producer of the programme) *

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

Sue Perkins Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she progressed into radio a ...

Carrie Quinlan Carrie Quinlan is a British actress and comedy writer, known for her work in theatre, television and radio. She is best known for John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme'','' and played the lead in '' Agendum'' on BBC Radio 4. Early life Quinlan wa ...

* Linda Smith *

(later a host) *

(also a former host)

BBC newsreaders

The News Quiz once also featured input from regular BBC newsreaders (or "hacks-neutral", as Alan Coren referred to them), but have been dropped as of the post-Covid episodes. News/continuity announcer

Corrie Corfield Coriona Kear Ware Corfield is a radio broadcaster and producer known especially for her newsreading and continuity announcements on BBC Radio 4. Early life and education She was born 1961 in Oxford. Raised near Stratford-upon-Avon, Corfield w ...

appeared as a panellist once when Sandi Toksvig was unable to attend. As a current BBC newsreader she was bound by the BBC's code of practice for newsreaders, which prevented her from making any opinionated comments on-air. When asked, "What do you think of Bush, Corrie?", she responded, "He's an American". Peter Donaldson also appeared as a guest, in an episode broadcast in September 1999.

Producers

* Gwyn Rhys Davies *Suzy Grant * Victoria Lloyd *Richard Morris *

Joe Nunnery Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage, based on the novel ''Joe'' (1991) by Larry Brown * Joe (2023 film), an Indian film * ''Joe'' (TV ser ...

*Paul Sheehan * Lyndsay Fenner * Sam Michell * Sam Bryant * Ed Morrish * Katie Tyrrell *Simon Nicholls *

Lucy Armitage Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Luc ...

* Jon Rolph * Aled Evans *

Harry Thompson Harry William Thompson (6 February 1960 – 7 November 2005) was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series '' Monkey Dust'', screened between 200 ...

* John Lloyd * Louise Coats

Scriptwriters

Each week, the chair's script is written by three main writers, with material contributed by one or two additional writers. Current regular writers include: *

Benjamin Partridge Benjamin Partridge (born June 1986) is a Welsh comedy writer, performer, actor and producer. Partridge's professional writing career began when he was awarded a BBC Radio Comedy Writers Bursary in 2011. Since then, he has written consistently fo ...

Alice Fraser Alice Fraser is an Australian comedian, writer, podcaster, and actor. Early life and education Fraser studied law at the University of Sydney before going on to earn a master's degree in English literature (Rhetoric) in Cambridge, England. Fra ...

* Madeleine Brettingham * Laura Major * Mike Shephard *

Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...

* Max Davis * Sarah Morgan * Gabby Hutchinson Crouch * Catherine Brinkworth *

Kat Sadler Kat Sadler is a British comedian, actress, and writer. Early life Sadler was born in 1994 and is from Sutton, London. She has a younger sister, actress Lizzie Davidson. Career Sadler started in comedy at Warwick University where she studied fil ...

* Simon Alcock Former regular writers include: * James Kettle *

Simon Littlefield Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

* Rhodri Crooks * Lucy Clarke * Gareth Gwynn * John-Luke Roberts * Jon Hunter * Andy Wolton *

James Sherwood James Blair Sherwood (August 8, 1933 – May 18, 2020) was an American-born, British-based businessman, and the founder of Belmond Limited and Sea Containers. Early life James Blair Sherwood was born in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, the son of Willia ...

Stephen Carlin Stephen Carlin is a Scottish-born stand-up comedian and writer, now living in London. He was named by Stewart Lee as one of the 'Ten Best Comedians In The World Ever'. He has appeared on television and radio including ITV2's ''Comedy Cuts'' and ...

* George Poles * Paul McKenzie * Dave Cohen * Tom Jamieson *

Nev Fountain Nev Fountain, born Steven John Fountain (born 12 August 1969), is an English writer best known for his comedy work with writing partner Tom Jamieson on the radio and television programme '' Dead Ringers''. Early life A native of Stamford, Fou ...

Debbie Barham Deborah Ann Barham (20 November 1976 – 20 April 2003) was an English comedy writer who died at the age of 26 of heart failure brought on as a result of anorexia. As well as writing for TV and radio, Barham wrote columns for newspapers and m ...

* Iain Pattinson (1990s)

Music

The opening title music is an arrangement of ''

The Typewriter "The Typewriter" is a short composition of light music by American composer Leroy Anderson, which features an actual typewriter as a percussion instrument. Composition Anderson completed "The Typewriter" on October 9, 1950 in Woodbury, Connecti ...

'', by

Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson ( ; June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, Light music, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams descri ...

played by The James Shepherd Versatile Brass. For the programme the original recording (on Decca records SB 314) has been increased in speed and pitch by about 33%.

Cultural references

BBC MindGames Magazine regularly featured several BBC-linked puzzles, including ''The News Quiz'', a series of questions about the last month's more unlikely news. Issue 5 (November 2006) also included an interview with

Audiobook releases

Entire series from series 87 onwards have been released on audio CD and made available for download. The following compilations have also been released by BBC Audio. * Simon Hoggart's Pick of The News Quiz: Volume 1 (6 Nov 2000) * Simon Hoggart's Pick of The News Quiz: Volume 2 (23 Sep 2002) * The News Quiz: The First 25 Years (1 Jul 2003) * The News Quiz: The Very Best Of 2004 (1 Nov 2004) * The News Quiz: The Best of 2005 (18 Oct 2005) * The News Quiz: Hold The Front Page (2 Oct 2006) * The News Quiz: Stop Press! (1 Oct 2007) * The News Quiz: "Read All About It!" (27 Nov 2008) * The News Quiz: Soundbites (13 Nov 2014) * The News Quiz: The Best Of 2015 (5 Nov 2015) * The News Quiz: A Vintage Collection 1977–2002 (3 Aug 2017) * The News Quiz: The Best Of 2017 (2 Nov 2017) * The News Quiz: The Best Of 2018 (1 Nov 2018) * The News Quiz: Classic Collection (audio download only, 15 Aug 2019) * The News Quiz: The Best Of 2019 (7 Nov 2019)

Podcast

As of 28 September 2007, ''The News Quiz'' became downloadable as part of the "Friday Night Comedy" podcast feed for Radio 4. The podcast switches between ''The News Quiz'', ''Dead Ringers'', ''Catherine Bohart: TL;DR'', and ''The Naked Week'', depending on which show is being transmitted; previously included in this rotation was ''

The Now Show ''The Now Show'' is a British radio comedy programme on BBC Radio 4 which satirises the weekly news. The show, which ran from 1998 to 2024, is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. It features regular ...

'', which ended in 2024. During Miles Jupp's tenure, an extended version of the show entitled ''The News Quiz Extra'', featuring an additional 10–15 minutes of material, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in the week following the standard Radio 4 broadcast; this version was also made available as a podcast.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:News Quiz 1977 radio programme debuts Audio podcasts BBC Radio 4 programmes BBC Radio comedy programmes British panel games British satirical radio programmes Comedy podcasts British radio game shows 1970s British game shows 1980s British game shows 1990s British game shows 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows BBC panel games 2007 podcast debuts